Month: March 2013

ToDoNotes 2 is out with iOS 6 support

In the summer of 2011, jailbreak developers participated in a cool project called tweak week. Several devs each took a week, and released one new jailbreak tweak everyday. It went on for 3+ months, and we got several great tweaks out of it.

One of those tweaks was ToDoNotes, by TwitkaFly developer moeseth, which added a notepad to the Spotlight page that talked with the Notes app, giving you quick access to your memos. And version 2 just came out with iOS 6 support...

Add functionality to the AssistiveTouch feature with MyAssistive

Buried deep in the iOS Settings app, at the bottom of the Accessibility window, is a feature called AssistiveTouch. Apple built this tool to make its mobile devices more accessible to users with impaired physical or motor skills.

Enabling the feature adds a tiny icon to your device's screen that typically, when tapped, opens a menu with shortcuts for a variety of system functions. But with the new MyAssistive jailbreak tweak, you can change that...

iBatteryInfo provides useful battery data when unplugging your device

If your device's battery life is a major concern for you, there are a number of jailbreak tweaks out there that will help you monitor and get the most out of it. There's BatteryDoctorPro, Battery Status and BattSaver, to name a few.

Today we're adding another one to the list, a new tweak called iBatteryInfo. This simple utility offers up all kinds of useful data, like whether or not your battery is fully charged, when plugging in and unplugging your iOS device...

Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops marches onto the App Store

Tiny Troopers made its mark on the App Store in June of 2012. The battle-heavy app mixed team-up gameplay with shoot-em-up action. The minuscule military men are back for more and Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops is an excellent follow-up to its predecessor.

When I first started playing Tiny Troopers, the one thing that stood out to me the most was the use of military-related catch phrases. Every time a little soldier takes down an enemy, you’ll hear him squeak out a line like, “Hurrah!” or, “Open fire!” It was the thing that drew me in. Those little tough guys are so dang cute.

Tiny Troopers 2 incorporates all of the cuteness of the original while maintaining the manliness you’ve come to expect of war games. You’re not going to be sniping fools a la “Call of Duty,” but you can still get your shooter game action fix...

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week – March 31, 2013 edition

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network.

We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+...

P0sixninja says he’s discovered exploits for next jailbreak Popular jailbreak backup tool iBye updated for iOS 6 Spice up your device’s unlock animation with LiveWire Change up the look of your icon badges with Badge Customizer Quickly enable the Passcode on your device with TapTapPass Wake up to the date, temperature and more with Wake Info T-Mobile finally lands the iPhone: available April 12, $99 upfront What you need to know about Apple’s tweaked A1428 iPhone 5 Comparison of iPhone ownership cost on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile Jailbreak hack lets you enjoy T-Mobile LTE speeds on your iPhone 5 webOS-inspired iOS 7 multitasking concept Sentry’s new App Switching concept makes it easier to move between apps If Samsung made an iWatch…

Of course, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our podcast, Let's Talk Jailbreak:

We’re social! Find iDB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, YouTube, and in your RSS reader. Also make sure to subscribe to our new podcast!

Customize your Lock screen with widgets and more with LockHTML 2

Folks who are fans of the LockHTML jailbreak tweak will be happy to hear that version 2 is now available. The tweak, which is developed by Busche, hit Cydia last week with new code, new features and a number of improvements.

For those unfamiliar with LockHTML, it is (was?) a jailbreak utility that allows you to customize the appearance of your Lock screen with a clock-hider and themeable HTML widgets. And version 2.0 adds a host of new options... 

Chpwn and other developers hit with iMessage DoS attack

Over the past few days, several well-known iOS and jailbreak developers have reported that they've been hit with an iMessage DoS, or denial of service, attack. The attacks feature a series of spam messages that end up crashing the iMessage app.

The list of affected developers include Sn0wBreeze creator iH8sn0w, Zephyr creator Chpwn, and others. And the perpetrator has been tracked to a Twitter account involved in selling things like provisioned UDIDs and Siri proxy servers...

Tension rises as Samsung complains about not receiving iPhone 6 chip orders

Despite the ongoing legal wrangling over mobile technology patents, Samsung to this date remains the only supplier of Apple-designed processors which drive iPhones, iPads and iPods. The South Korean conglomerate has been exclusively building these chips according to Apple's blueprints at its multi-billion dollar fabrication facility in Austin, Texas.

However, recent chatter increasingly points to rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) possibly stealing the Apple contract from Samsung as Apple looks to further distance itself from its chief rival.

A new report from South Korea alleges Apple has now actually excluded Samsung as a future mobile processor supplier. In turn, TSMC, which is the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, may produce a significant portion, even possibly all of mobile chips for Apple's next-gen iPhone 6 to be released in 2014...

US Patent Office turns down Apple’s iPad mini trademark application

Apple's been having some pretty bad luck on the patent and trademark front lately. It recently lost a trademark battle in Mexico for its world-renown 'iPhone' moniker, and it's fighting a similar battle in Brazil.

And that bad luck continues this week with reports claiming that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has turned down the Cupertino company's trademark application for its just-launched iPad mini...

Samsung worried second damages trial could see Apple extract north of $1 billion

As you know, United States District Judge Lucy Koh shaved $450 million off the $1.05 billion verdict the jury handed to Apple in the high-stake Apple v. Samsung patent trial last August, citing “an impermissible legal theory.” She ordered a new trial for the remaining fourteen Samsung products and Nokia - of all companies - filed a brief with the appeals court on behalf of Apple, claiming Judge Koh got it all wrong. And in the latest twist to the ongoing legal saga, the South Korean conglomerate in court documents expresses worries that the second damages trial could see Apple win even more than before...

Meet Mittens, Disney’s new physics-based puzzler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhVMXjD3oXM

Who would have thought Disney Interactive would ever produce a smash hit for the iPhone? Seemingly against all odds, that's exactly what the company has accomplished with its charming puzzler, Where's My Water? (free, $0.99 universal). The game knocked Rovio's Angry Birds off the top spot on the App Store's list of paid apps just 24 hours following its release and ratcheted up a million downloads in its first month of release, enough to score an Apple Design Award for iPhone apps.

Where's My Water? was also Apple's 25 billionth app download and was featured in a free download promotion. Disney, of course, wasted no time building a merchandising business around the game. But that was 2012. Now in 2013, Disney is looking to replicate its success with a brand new physics-based puzzler involving kittens and aptly named Mittens. Have a look at the official trailer and jump past the fold for additional info...

How to re-enable background audio playback for Safari videos in iOS 6

Remember the good old days, in iOS 5, when you could listen to a video's audio in the background on your device while multitasking? All you had to do was double tap the Home button, swipe to the left to reveal the iPod controls, and press Play.

But for some reason, Apple disabled this feature in iOS 6, leaving us without a native way to do things like listen to YouTube videos in Safari while texting or browsing Twitter. But the good news is, we've come across a fairly easy way to get it back...